Folding lawn chair



June 17, 1952 A. E. ELLINGSON FOLDING LAWN CHAIR Filed July 8. 1947 Patented June 17, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT FF I CIE FOLDING LAWN mm Adolph E} Ellingson, Chicago, 111. Application July-8', 1947; Serial No. 759,519 Claims. (01. 155 -139) My invention relates to folding chairs'of the type used on lawns and recreation grounds, and one object is to provide a chair of this type which is rigidly constructed and strong enough to withstand hard usage.

A further object is to equip the novel chair with means to lock it against collapse after it has been set up.

Another object is to include locking controls which are concealed from direct approach and therefore least apt to be tamperedw'ith.

Another important object is to design the chair along lines of simplicity and for compact form when folded.

With the above objects in view, and any others which may suggest themselves from the description to follow, a better understanding of the invention may be had by'reference to the accompanying drawing, in which.

Fig. 1 is a front'elevation of the chair;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2' of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is atop plan view, partly broken away;

Fig. i is a right-hand side elevation of the chair, showing the same folded;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectionon the line 5-5 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

In accordance with the foregoing, the formation of the chair is with four frames. Oneis in front, and features the front legs; the second one is at the bottom, and contains the seat; the third is at the rear, and includes the back rest; and the fourth is at the top, and made with the arm rests.

Referring specifically to the drawing, 10 indicates the legs of the frontal frame, these being secured in spaced relation by an apron II and also by a cross-rail l2 which rests on the apron in front. The front edge of the cross-rail is rounded at the top, as indicated at I3. The legs Ill carry side wings [4 at the top, these projecting outwardly from the rear portions of the legs. The described parts of the frontal frame are secured by conventional means, such as glue,

- nails and screws in order to lend the frame rigidity and strength.

The bottom frame is composed of a pair of legs I! extending in rearwardly-inclined directions from the inner sides of the front legs l0, being pivoted to the latter by bolts IS. The top edges of the legs i! receive a series of cross-slats I9 in spaced rearward direction from the frontal crossrail I2 to form the seat of the chair.

The rear frame is mainly composed of a series of long boards grouped in laterally-spaced relation to form the back rest of the chair.

The boards 20 are secured atthe bottom to a frontal cross-board 2;]; and the latterreceives forward end pieces 22; which-are bolted to the cross-board as indicated; at 23. The frame is pivoted between'the'bottom legs H bybolts 25 driven from the latte'rthrough the endpieces 22. The top edge's'of the cross-board 2| and end pieces 22 are overlaid-by a cross-rail26, which cooperates with thecross-slats I 9 to formthe rearmost element of the seat. At about=midheight the back rest boards receive a crossbar 21 on the back-side, tlie top edge of this bar being. forwardly beveled, as' indicated at 28.

The top frame is mainly composed of-a pairof arm rests 30 extendingffr'omfront torear; The frontal portions of the arm rests lie on the upper edges of the legs") and side wings-14; and hinges 3! are secured between the under'sides of the arm rests and the rear faces-df--theside wings to enable the arm rests to be sw'ungin counter-clockwise direction from the-position mdicated in Fig. 2. The rear ends of thearm rests are spanned on'the under side by a back rail 32, whose frontal portion re'stson the top edge of the cross-bar'zl when the chair is-inthe set-up position indicated in Fig. 2.

As set up, the chair primarily maintains its position by the stop formed by the frontal-apron I lagainst the tendency of the legs-l1 to spread from thelegs l0. Further,theback-rail32forms a stop against the tendency of the back rest to swing back beyond the position indicated in Fig. 2. However, in case the chair is to be collapsed, a slight forward pressure on the back rest enables it to be folded forward on the seat. The top frame then swings down, depositing the back rail 32 on the bottom legs IT. The frontal frame can now be rotated in a clockwise direction as seen in Fig. 2 to aline such frame with the bottom frame. When the folded structure is raised for carrying facility, it appears as in Fig. 4.

While the chair, as so far described, is constructed to maintain its set-up position, particularly under the weight of an occupant, two safeguards to lock the chair against accidental collapse-either when empty or occupied-are provided. One device is a spring latch 35 on the inner side of each bottom leg l1. Each latch is secured at one end on the related pivoting bolt l8 and rises to the height of a pair of horizontal bores 36 and 31 made in the leg I! and adjacent frontal leg l0, such bores being alined when the chair is in the set-up position. The latch 35 carries a pin 38 which lodges in the bores 36 and 31 as indicated in Fig. 1, locking the legs l1 and I0 from pivoting motion and preventing the accidental collapse of the frontal and bottom frames. However, the latches 35 carry knobs 39 on the inner side which may be drawn to unlock the legs I! and ID for pivotal motion in the event that the chair is to be collapsed.

The other safeguard is directed to the back rest and the back rail 32. Figs. 3 and show that the latter is made with a vertical slot 40 at the center. Below the slot 40 the cross-bar 21 receives screw and washer securing means 4| for the lower end of a spring wire detent 42. When the chair is set up and the back rail 32 seats on the cross-bar 2'! as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, a side bend 43 in the upper portion of the detent 42 holds the back rail down by engaging the back rail at one end of the slot 40. The side bend 43 is continued with a rising back bend 44 as the upper terminal of the detent. When it is desired to release the back rail from the cross-bar 21, side pressure on the back bend 44 in the direction of the free end of the slot 40 will spring the detent away from its hold on the back rail to a position such as indicated by dot-and-dash lines in Fig. 5, permitting the cross-bar 21 to be lowered from the back rail while the slot forms a clearance for the detent. When setting up the chair, the return of the cross-bar crowds the back bend 44 aside in the manner of a cam until the back bend trips the back rail and again engages the same.

The fit of the latches 35 is made somewhat loose or sufficient to permit the bottom frame to be depressed slightly after the detent has been swung aside which will allow the back rest to be swung forward su'ihciently to clear the cross-bar. When this is done, the attention is transferred to the front of the chair for the release of the latches 35 in order to permit the further closing of the chair.

While I have described the invention along specific lines, various minor changes or refinements may be made therein without departing from its principle, and I reserve the right to employ all such changes and refinements as may come within the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A folding chair including vertical front legs, inclined rear legs pivotally secured to said front legs, an apron carried by the front legs and forming an abutment to prevent the opening of said rear legs from the front legs beyond a given point, and means comprising spring latches, each consisting of a spring plate and a projecting pin, said latches being mounted on the front portion of the rear legs, the front and rear legs having bores therein which receive the extended end of the projecting pin to lock the rear legs from folding motion relatively to said front legs.

2. The structure of claim 1, and finger knobs carried by the latches and usable to withdraw the same for the release of said rear legs from the locking position.

3. A folding chair comprising a frontal frame including front legs, a bottom frame including rear legs and a seat, said rear legs being pivoted to the front legs, a back rest pivoted at its lower end to said seat, a top frame including a pair of arm rests pivoted to swing downwardly to the rear of said front legs, a back rail carried by the top frame and having a slot therein, a cross-bar carried by the back rest, and a spring detent mounted on said cross-bar and movable through said slot in the back rail to hook over the same and hold the back rest and top frame in set up position.

4. The structure of claim 3, and a cam extended from the hooking portion of the detent and adapted to be crowded by the back rail to train the detent into the slot.

5. The structure of claim 3, and a handle extended from the detent and operable to unhcok the same from the back rail and permit the separation of the cross-bar from the same.

ADOLPH E. ELLINGSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,971,783 Holloway Aug. 28, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 62,164 Denmark Apr. 3, 1944 66,396 Norway May 23, 1941 

